Palace to Noynoy: Stop using parents' legacy for 2010 bid
08/23/2009 | 05:18 PM
(Updated 8:09 p.m.) Malacañang on Sunday advised Senator Benigno “Noynoy" Aquino III not to bask in his parents’ glory and instead show that "he is his own man" if he is serious in seeking a higher position in the 2010 national elections.
"He has to show that he is his own man kung gusto po niya na maging magaling na presidente ng bayan natin (if he wants to be a good president of this country)," said deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar.
Olivar said Sen. Aquino has been “invoking the illustrious memory of his heroic parents" to gain political capital that would help his bid in the 2010 elections.
Olivar was reacting to Sen. Aquino’s rejection of Malacañang’s plan to construct a monument of the late former President Corazon “Cory" Aquino, the senator’s mother, in Rizal Park in Manila.
Olivar said Malacañang would still push through with the project despite opposition from Sen. Aquino.
"The proposed Rizal Park monument to President Cory is a gift in her honor from the Filipino people and the Philippine government through their elected president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The gift is unconditional and the project will push through," he said.
Before she died last August 1, Mrs. Aquino had been a vocal critic of the Arroyo administration. She even called for Mrs. Arroyo’s resignation in 2005 during the height of the "Hello, Garci" scandal, in which wiretapped audio recordings indicated that Mrs. Arroyo might have benefited from electoral fraud in 2004.
Calls for Sen. Aquino to run for either president or vice president next year grew in the wake of Mrs. Aquino’s death.
According to Olivar, Sen. Aquino is expected to “use all his assets" in his bid for a higher position especially since he was the only son of Mrs. Aquino and the late senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., who was gunned down at the Manila International Airport on August 21, 1983.
Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, meanwhile, cautioned Sen. Aquino against taking advantage of his “reflected glory," adding that there is no assurance that his sudden popularity would continue until next year's elections.
"Ang tanong ay, ito bang paglabas ng sentiment ng publiko ng pagmamahal sa mag-asawang Aquino magtatagal ba sa Mayo 2010 o hanggang ilang buwan lang ito mag-iiba na ang isip nila?" she said in a radio dzBB interview Sunday.
(Can his popularity be sustained until election day of 2010, or will it last for just a few months?) - GMANews.TV
"He has to show that he is his own man kung gusto po niya na maging magaling na presidente ng bayan natin (if he wants to be a good president of this country)," said deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar.
Olivar said Sen. Aquino has been “invoking the illustrious memory of his heroic parents" to gain political capital that would help his bid in the 2010 elections.
Olivar was reacting to Sen. Aquino’s rejection of Malacañang’s plan to construct a monument of the late former President Corazon “Cory" Aquino, the senator’s mother, in Rizal Park in Manila.
Olivar said Malacañang would still push through with the project despite opposition from Sen. Aquino.
"The proposed Rizal Park monument to President Cory is a gift in her honor from the Filipino people and the Philippine government through their elected president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The gift is unconditional and the project will push through," he said.
Before she died last August 1, Mrs. Aquino had been a vocal critic of the Arroyo administration. She even called for Mrs. Arroyo’s resignation in 2005 during the height of the "Hello, Garci" scandal, in which wiretapped audio recordings indicated that Mrs. Arroyo might have benefited from electoral fraud in 2004.
Calls for Sen. Aquino to run for either president or vice president next year grew in the wake of Mrs. Aquino’s death.
According to Olivar, Sen. Aquino is expected to “use all his assets" in his bid for a higher position especially since he was the only son of Mrs. Aquino and the late senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., who was gunned down at the Manila International Airport on August 21, 1983.
Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, meanwhile, cautioned Sen. Aquino against taking advantage of his “reflected glory," adding that there is no assurance that his sudden popularity would continue until next year's elections.
"Ang tanong ay, ito bang paglabas ng sentiment ng publiko ng pagmamahal sa mag-asawang Aquino magtatagal ba sa Mayo 2010 o hanggang ilang buwan lang ito mag-iiba na ang isip nila?" she said in a radio dzBB interview Sunday.
(Can his popularity be sustained until election day of 2010, or will it last for just a few months?) - GMANews.TV
